Was Rex Ryan off target in shots at Chargers front office?

THE BEST: 4. Antonio Cromartie, CB. Smith took a huge chance with the No. 19 overall pick of the 2006 draft, given that Cromartie had missed the last year of his career at Florida State with a blown-out ACL and not taken part in the NFL Combine. No matter what anybody thought of Cromartie before – or since – it was electrifying to see him return that just-shy field goal 109 yards for a TD. Not to mention his team-record 10 interceptions that season, four off Peyton Manning, three in one game.

THE BEST: 4. Antonio Cromartie, CB. Smith took a huge chance with the No. 19 overall pick of the 2006 draft, given that Cromartie had missed the last year of his career at Florida State with a blown-out ACL and not taken part in the NFL Combine. No matter what anybody thought of Cromartie before – or since – it was electrifying to see him return that just-shy field goal 109 yards for a TD. Not to mention his team-record 10 interceptions that season, four off Peyton Manning, three in one game.

I didn’t either, until finding and reading it a few days ago. It’s called “Play Like You Mean It.”

Written with Don Yaeger, it’s a pretty good read -- but I don’t think Dean Spanos or A.J. Smith will nominate it for the Book of the Month Club.

Ryan takes a few swipes at the Chargers front office of 2009-10, while congratulating himself for bringing two former Chargers, Antonio Cromartie and LaDainian Tomlinson, to the Jets.

The gist: Ryan says the Bolts brass lacked finesse in dealing with Cromartie and Tomlinson, and that finesse sometimes is needed with players who either are athletic freaks, such as Cromartie, or a fading franchise icon such as Tomlinson.

Here' an excerpt on Cromartie; to be clear, the part in parentheses is also from the book:

“He just needed a change of scenery. From what I hear, he got to the point he was butting heads with a lot of people in San Diego. The front office (they seem to butt heads with a lot of guys), the coaches, the teammates – it just got real sour. Again, that stuff happens. They said he was a bad teammate, but I know otherwise.”

Now, Tomlinson:

"In the end, it seemed to me like L.T. didn’t feel appreciated there anymore. You don’t let that happen with great players. Trust me, if you treat greats like that, what does that say to the rest of the locker room? It’s like broadcasting the message: 'We don’t care how hard you work, we’re going to treat you like a piece of meat in the end.'

“Look, players get it. They know that if they’re not good enough, the team isn’t keeping them, especially when salaries mean so much. Regardless, there’s still a way to treat people. You don’t make a guy that works that hard twist in the wind. The Chargers did that during the 2009 offseason. They busted his chops over money, and they made it public and it set the tone for the 2009 season.”

Ryan never mentions A.J. Smith or other Bolts execs by name, but there's no doubting Smith is his target. Spanos, of course, was Smith's boss.

Remember, following the Jets' upset of the Chargers in the 2009 playoffs, Ryan sent a game ball to Marty Schottenheimer, whom Smith fired after the 2006 season.

Did the Chargers err in their handling of Cromartie and Tomlinson? How about Cromartie and Tomlinson? Could they have made better choices?

I don't know, but there was a weird vibe at the time.

I was around the 2009 team quite often, and it seemed like Turner went the extra yard to make Tomlinson comfortable, almost like Norv was trying to counteract any friction between Smith and L.T. Norv constantly praised L.T. to us media slobs, and to the players. If anything, Norv went overboard in the '09 playoff game by giving the ball to Tomlinson too many times. The Jets pounded him, allowing 24 yards in 12 carries.

As for Cromartie, he probably did need a change of scenery, especially after refusing to try to tackle Jets running bacck Shonn Greene in the playoff loss. But replacing Cromartie with Antoine Cason was a net loss for the Chargers.

A theme to Ryan's book is that the NFL, above all, is a people business.

If the current Spanos front office succeeds in finding other players as talented as Tomlinson and Cromartie, it won't stop being a people business.